We are skilled and experienced in preparing primary applications and reviewing applications for every kind of visa, but we do more than just that.

Our commitment to you goes beyond merely managing your visa application. We provide information and guidance on living costs, employment, housing, health care and other critical aspects. We work as partners in your relocation to Australia, counselling you on several complex issues that arise when settling in a foreign country.

“Broad Overview:

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from Financial Year 2018-2019 there will be only ONE ROUND OF INVITATIONS PER MONTH, next round will be around 11 August 2018.

Recent news: Department of Immigration (now DoHA) has announced that from 1 July 2018 the “pass mark” has been increased from 60 to 65 points. New applicants can lodge their EOI with 65 points or more. Other applicants who lodged their EOI before 30 June 2018 with 60 points will continue to stay in the queue.

Summary:

The 11th August 2018 invitation round from Depart of Immigration’s “SkillSelect” division has been “WELCOME NEWS”. For the first time since October 2017 (about nine months ago), the number of monthly invitations has touched the “two thousand-plus” mark! 2.490 invitations to be exact!

For November 2017 to June 2018, the Department of Immigration (now Department of Home Affairs – DoHA) had released only 305 invitations every fortnight. This level had been static, at about 610 invitations per month.

For July 2018, 1,010 invitations had been issued. This is better than the 610 invitations being issued from Nov 2017 onwards. But still a lot less than the 2,000-odd invitations that were being issued per month before October 2017… so it is heartening to see the number of invitations above the two-thousand mark in the 11 August 2018 SkillSelect results – 2,490 invitations.

For many months the “Accountants group” of occupations were not invited at all. This is now the fifth round of invitations where DoHA has finally invited Accountants, Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers! For Accountants, the invitation threshold has dropped from 85 (last round) to 80 (this round), and the cut-off date is published as 15-03-2018 which means that all “Accountant” applicants with 80 points or more who applied for their Expression of Interest (EOI) before 15-03-2018 got invited. For the other occupations listed above, the cut-off points-score is 80, and the cut-off date is 14-03-2018 (in the last round of invitations this was 16-02-2018, so this has moved forward by one month).

The total number of invitations for the last financial year (July 2017 to June 2018) was 16,296.

Based on July 2018 and August 2018 figures, the total number of invitations for this financial year (July 2018 to June 2019) could be 3,500 x 6 bi-monthly periods = 21,000 which would mean an increase in Subclass 189 and Subclass 489 (Family) invitations compared to the previous financial year 2017-2018. There may be even more invitations planned for the next ten months (Sept 2018 – June 2019) – let us wait and see.

The slow-down from November 2017 to June 2018 will undoubtedly affect Department of Immigration’s statistics in the 2018-2019 financial year. I was forecasting a deliberate attempt by DoHA to slow down the “pipeline” in preparation for some dramatic changes to be announced after July/August 2018, but this latest round of invitations may prove I was wrong!

For this latest round of invitations under the subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) visa, 2,490 invitations were issued, at 70 points or above. Only ten invitations were issued to SC489 Family-Sponsored applicants – 9 at 80 points and one at 85 points… so as you can see, the SC489 FAMILY-SPONSORED applicant needs to have scored 70-75 points “independently” plus the 10 points from their family-sponsor.

Please note that these figures do not include invitations under the state-nominated subclass 190 and state-nominated “Regional” subclass 489.

For this round, most invitations (1,094) were to applicants who have 75 points. Another 453 invitations went to persons with 80 points. 107 invitations were given to applicants having 85 points. Two invitations were given to applicants with 90 points. But the BEST NEWS is that 834 applicants were invited at 70 points!

There were NO INVITES to applicants with 60 or 65 points.

For the occupations subject to pro-rata arrangements, Accountants with 80 points or more got invitations up to an EOI-date of 15-03-2018. “Auditors,” “Company Secretaries” and “Corporate Treasurers” got invited at 80 points, with a cut-off date of 14-03-2018. This is a good development because Accountants had been excluded (or dramatically reduced) since Oct-Nov 2017 invitation-rounds!

Electronics Engineers got invited at 75 points with the date of effect 19-07-2018, so they seem to have waited ONLY TWENTY-TWO DAYS IN THE QUEUE! Unfortunately, this is only for 75 point applicants; all others lost out.

Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers also got invited at 70 points with a date of effect 04-12-2017. The previous period was April 2018 (but for 75 points score), so this is a good development for Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers.

Other Engineering Professionals got invited at 75 points with the date of effect 16-05-2018. So for these occupations, the waiting in the queue has now increased because invitations have started to cover 70 point holders also! I am hoping that the number of “invitations” rises over the next few rounds. Then it will be a good sign for other engineers who are waiting at 70 points and 65 points.

So for ICT professionals, there is about 1.5 to 4 month’s waiting in the queue. The good news is only for 75-point holders. Again, if the number of invitations at each round goes up for the next financial year (July 2018 – June 2019), then more ICT professionals with 70 and 65 points are likely to be invited.

The table below (published by Department of Immigration – now renamed Depart of Home Affairs – DoHA) shows the number of invitations issued in the SkillSelect invitationround on 11th August 2018:

Invitations issued on 11 August 2018

Visa Subclass

Number

Skilled – Independent (subclass 189)

2490

Skilled – Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489)

10

During the 2018-19 program year, the following numbers of invitations have been issued:

Invitations issued during the 2018-19 program year

Visa subclass

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

Total

Skilled – Independent (subclass 189)

1000

2490

​

3490

Skilled – Regional Provisional (subclass 489)

10

10

20

Total

1010

2500

3510

The above figures do not include invitations issued for State, and Territory Governments nominated visa subclasses. State and Territory Governments nominate throughout the month for specific points tested skilled migration and business innovation and investment visas.

11 August 2018 results

The following graph shows the points for clients who were invited to apply in the 11 August 2018 round.

Invitation process and cut offs

The highest ranked clients by points score are invited to apply for the relevant visa. For clients who have equal points scores, the time at which they reached their points score for that subclass (referred to as the date of effect) determines their order of invitation. Expressions of Interest with earlier dates of effect are invited before later dates.

I am very happy and grateful with the outcome of my visa application. It was a long journey but was all worth the wait. This would not have been possible without your expertise. Thank you for all your help and guidance throughout the entire process. I appreciate your promptness in responding to my queries and your working longer hours to meet deadlines. I would definitely recommend your services to my family and friends.